Matching the 3-D Printing Promise with Machining Precision

Metal laser sintering and milling technologies working in concert will allow engineers to think outside the box and create unique ideas, potentially triggering a departure from conventional manufacturing.

The Lumex Avance-25 remains one of the world's only metal laser-sintering hybrid milling machines.

MC Machinery Systems' LUMEX Avance-25 is a magical machine. It represents a new direction for 3-D printing into the industrial world, one that could bring it one step closer to basic machine shop viability: additive machining.

The LUMEX is a metal laser-sintering hybrid milling machine – a market still too new to warrant an acronym or less clunky description.

It remains one of the only machines in the world capable of one-machine, one-process manufacturing of complex molds and parts by mixing metal laser sintering (3-D SLS) technology with high-speed milling.

The machine builds up layers of additively manufactured parts from a powder bed and then pulls in a series of tools to mill, grind and tool each layer to ensure perfect spec.

The process achieves the highest accuracy in part fabrication because metal powders are melted and sintered via laser, while surfaces are precisely milled at high speeds. The result is a fully finished, 3-D printed piece straight out of the machine.

The machine enables production of complicated parts through total manufacturing using digital engineering and 3D data.

This added size combines with cost-saving design elements to make the MV4800 Advance the best dollar-per-square-foot EDM investment on the market.

Highlights of this machine include a Digital Matrix Sensor (DMX-S) and V350-V generator, which shape each spark to improve surface finish, reduce vibration and minimize electrode wear. This allows for a lower wire speed, reducing wire cost by as much as 60%.

Another key feature is the intelligent auto-threading systems designed to anneal up to 27 inches of wire, reducing the curl ratio to less than 10%.